Category: Rescue

Our latest fosters have arrived and are settling in. With new dogs, I never know what to expect out of the ordinary or what issues will arise while integrating them into the household routine. Other than knowing that “something” always comes up.

Assessments are made as to whether or not they are crate trained and clean in their crates … are they housetrained or do we need to utilize belly bands for a while … can they be transitioned over to a new food or will they decide to go on a three-day fast when presented with a new kibble? Kibble wasn’t the issue, it was the bowl … Budha will only eat out of a particular bowl. Will they sleep through the night in a crate and continue to sleep quietly well past the dark hours that see hubby up/out of the house? Can they tell me they need to go outside or should we just count on potty runs every couple hours or so? How will Teller react to them and vice versa … what’s the best option for integrating the three males together so they get along without it becoming an indoor pissing contest (literally and figuratively). If they don’t get along, who is the instigator?

Sammy and Budha are, at first glance, two peas in a pod. Both small, both black and both very similar in facial expression, Hubby is having a hard time telling them apart without looking at their collars … lime green for Sammy and bright red for Budha. Sammy is the more reserved of the two while Budha is a happy outgoing fellow. Sammy is content just to hang on the back of the couch or nestled in the couch pillows while Budha works at getting every. single. toy. strewn across the front room from not one – but two – toy boxes.

Budha chillin’ on the footstool

We’re finding the moment needed to make a verbal correction about something is lost as we try to figure out what dog’s name we need to be speaking in that correction. While Hubby hasn’t resorted to calling them both “Larry” because he can’t remember their names, I suspect it’s only a matter of time. We are, however, referring to them as “the Littles.” At about two-thirds the size of the two male Apsos in the house, it fits them perfectly. Can’t say “the boys” because – with the exception of yours truly – everything in the house is male! Then it would become a question of “the big boys or the little boys?” So, the Littles it is.

Once through the assessment period and vetting procedures, Sammy (age 5) and Budha (age 2) will be looking for a home(s) of their own here in Colorado. Ideally, I’d like them placed together but am well aware of the realities of placing a pair. If interested, please contact me directly at: ApsoRescue@aol.com. Please note we require an e-application, vet and personal reference checks and, finally, a home visit. Sorry, no out-of-state placements.

After a year off the blog, it’s time to return. Suffice it to say that a herniated cervical disc drastically limited after work computer time for most of 2014. By a stroke of luck, acceptance in an FDA study for an artificial disc and a surgery in September finally stopped the chronic neck pain/arm numbness when nothing else worked. So, here we are again.

Daisy n/k/a Piper

Last year was slow for rescue with only one intake, Daisy. Daisy came from a shelter in Aurora, Colorado via a family who quickly realized their lifestyle didn’t mesh with dog ownership. Thankfully, they took the time to search out rescue to ensure she would be placed appropriately and find a good home. A darling little thing at only eight pounds, she made up for her petite size with a big personality. Daisy was placed with a family in Casper, WY who adopted Kersey from us many years ago. Promptly named “Piper,” I have it on good authority that she’s spoiled rotten by Jan and Neal.

Christmas brought news of Lucy doing well in Westminster … Bubba n/k/a Max is living the good life … Murphy, our long-legged boy is enjoying life with his family. Mary reported that we’d lost Kalsang to age … I know with certainty that the best years of his life were spent with Mary. John, Neil and “the boys” are doing well in their new home in Oregon; Andy, our puppy mill survivor, has positively blossomed in their care. As a foster home for rescue, their presence is greatly missed here in Colorado! PippyDo and BellaToo were getting ready for a move to Covington, Louisiana to become real southern belles. Judy advised that Magoo is doing remarkably well despite his blindness and advanced age. Katu and Emmy are keeping Trudy amused with their antics.

Best of Opposite Sex

On the show front, Teller completed his championship in August and went on to pick up Best of Opposite Sex in the Maturity classes at the American Lhasa Apso Club’s National Specialty in St. Louis this past October. While there, we visited the Missouri Botanical Garden, the oldest botanic garden west of the Mississippi. We could have spent the entire week wandering the grounds! Teller is now retired from the ring, preferring to ride the couch rather than the show circuit.

Rescue is ramping up with an intake here very shortly. Unfortunately, due to a death in the family and other circumstances, Sammy, our little black Tzu, is coming back into rescue. And he’s bringing a friend with him … Budha, another little black Tzu! Ideally, we’d like them to go together but are all too aware of the realities of placing a pair in the same home. In any event, we’re off and running for 2015.

As if all that wasn’t enough, we recently launched our e-business, SpicewoodSalt.com. Some of you know the product as “Little Lion Dog Master Salt Blend.” With a new name, new logo, new packaging, two new products, a website and a Facebook page, we’re officially open for business! As part of the global community, a portion of our proceeds will be donated to rescue. Visit the Facebook page and say hello or just browse the website.

The following post has been making the rounds on Facebook … couldn’t have said it better myself. And, yes, I own three dogs from responsible breeders. Dogs who have the qualities and characteristics that make an Apso “an Apso” … something that can’t be said about the dogs coming from the mills or backyard breeders. And, yes, I know this first hand from my work in rescue, taking in dogs that were produced in the mills and backyards. There really is a difference …

A big thanks to dog lover (and Facebook friend) Michelle Gonsalves, for this well worded commentary on “purebred dogs creating shelter dogs”. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Over the years there’s been a growing number of uninformed voices rallying against the wonderful LOVING world of dog shows and ANY form of dog breeding. We thank Michelle, and any other people brave enough to speak up on the subject!

I am NOT ashamed to be the owner of two responsibly bred dogs. Neither of my dogs killed a shelter dog. Neither of my dogs took a shelter dog’s home. Neither of them added to pet overpopulation. If I didn’t have them, I just would not have a dog.

Do you know what kills shelter dogs? Irresponsible owners kill shelter dogs. They kill them when they don’t do their research and add the wrong dog to the wrong household, then ditch it to die at a shelter when they can’t or don’t care to properly care for it.

Let’s not forget that in many breeds, it was responsible breeders who started their breed’s national rescue club. Not to save their own dogs (which don’t need saving), but to save the dogs that they never bred. To save the ones that don’t have safety nets. Responsible breeders did that. They did that in IGs [Italian Greyhounds]. I was interviewed more intensely to buy my two responsibly bred dogs than I ever interviewed a rescue candidate. I had supervised visitation … multiple times. I don’t even own them outright, they are on co-ownership, so that if anything ever happens to me they will go back to their breeder (yes, even the neutered one).

How do I know this will come to pass> I’ve seen her do it with another of her dogs when the owner died unexpectedly. And I saw her do it with my own dog when I nearly died myself. No questions asked, she opened her home to him for as long as I needed her to … potentially forever, if it came to that. Because that’s what responsible breeders do. And trust me, I researched until I found a responsible breeder.

Added to that, I am PROUD of the responsible breeders in this country who work SO hard to preserve our wonderful breed. Without them, the IG would be an unsound, neurotic, unhealthy creature. Not the elegant, sweet, healthy blessing that I love so much. Without responsible breeders, we’d never have gotten the amazing genetic health tests for enamel hypoplasia, the vonWildebrand’s test, the CDA test or the PRA test that are on their way. Without breeders, the domestic dog would CEASE TO BE! I do not ever want to live in a world without dogs. What a terrible place that would be, yet so many professed animal lovers are campaigning through shaming to create just such a world. Because that’s what it means when you say things like “adopt don’t shop,” “don’t breed while shelter dogs die,” and “people who buy dogs from breeders should be ashamed of themselves.”

What do you think will happen if we sterilize all dogs? What do you think will happen if all breeders stop breeding? You’d very quickly lose the rare breeds and the giant breeds FOREVER. Wait a bit more and you’d lose important genetic diversity, causing untold suffering for dogs that have to come from increasingly small gene pools. And then, the dog — man’s best friend — would become extinct. Gone the way of the Dodo. Gone forever. So shame on YOU! Shame on you for hating dogs!

I am not ashamed of my dogs. I am not ashamed of their breeder, who is an amazing person who has given so much of herself for this and other breeds. I am not ashamed of my extended family all around the world in the sport of dogs. And I am not ashamed of myself for daring to want a responsibly bred dog that fits my lifestyle.

Blaming me for the death of shelter dogs is like blaming a parent for the death of orphans in Uganda because she chose to have a baby through pregnancy, rather than adopt one. I have never surrendered an animal in my life. I have never caused the death of a dog in all my life. So why don’t you focus your ire on the people who did — the people who dumped those dogs at the shelter. They are the ones who left those dogs to die. Not me. Stop bashing your allies. Stop the shaming. We ALL need to work together for the good of dogs. Because there are scary people out there who want your dog gone. Who want your cat gone. Who want the horse out of your paddock, the guide dog out of his harness, the chicken out of the coop and the cow out of the dairy. Keep shilling their slick propaganda and shaming your fellow animal lovers and you help Animal Rights militants erase your dog from your very own home.

ALAC Rescue is holding an online rescue fundraiser. As many of you know, the past year for Rescue has been difficult for the national organization with health issues that impacted Rescue’s fundraising activities.

Here’s your chance to donate to a worthy cause and stock up on kitchen essentials. “What do rescue and the kitchen have in common?!?!?” you might ask. Good question … and we have a great answer for you! ALAC Rescue and one of the Pampered Chef associates have partnered up to hold an online “party.” Order from the Pampered Chef site at the following link and the net proceeds go directly to ALAC Rescue … Pampered Chef / ALAC Rescue Fundraiser.

Love to make/bake pizza … Pampered Chef has a great pizza stone. Cocktails … Pampered Chef has a fabulous little bar cutting board with non-slip grips. Baking … Pampered Chef’s stoneware is top of the line. Love salads … Pampered Chef has a handy-dandy mix-n-pour salad dressing maker. Even comes with the recipes and measurements printed right on the side.

Cruise on over and check out the many products available. Orders will be taken through Friday, February 14th… get yourself something special for Valentine’s Day! Spread some of the love around!

To ensure your order is shipped directly to you: When ordering, make sure you click so the items are shipped directly to you: (1) Pick the item you want, it says quantity, then unit price, then total price. (2) At the end of the row for each item, there is a column that says “host” … click on that and it drops down and says “guest” or “other.” (3) Click on “guest” and it will send to your address. At the end of each item, you have to do that so it is all shipped to your address. After you update cart, your address will come up instead of the Lhasa Apso Rescue host; then hit “save shipping info” and it automatically calculates shipping for your order.

You can call Linda 412-377-8963 or email her at: Llrn57@yahoo.com if you have questions during the order process.

… comes a warm and loving heart all wrapped up in a happy boy by the name of Toby!

Toby

So here’s the deal … Toby is located in Minnesota, around the Twin Cities area. The local specialty club up there — Twin Cities Lhasa Apso Club (TCLAC) — was approached by a vet clinic to take him on when his family couldn’t cover treatment costs for a fractured leg. The club found a foster home, paid for his extensive treatment and now he’s ready to find a new family.

Toby is a three-year old neutered male, weighing 14-15 pounds. More information about Toby can be found at this link: http://www.twincitieslhasaapsoclub.org/#!adoption. I was told by one of the club members that he’s a great little dog with no negatives … and that if she didn’t have a houseful of dogs, she’d keep him. That’s saying quite a lot, folks!

If you have questions about Toby, the adoption process or anything else, TCLAC can be contacted at: TCLAC2@gmail.com. I suspect they’ll want to keep his adoption fairly “local” so keep that in mind if you’re not in the area by a 300-mile radius.

Tanqueray & Tonic in hand, I wander back to the computer this snowy, cold day. Granted not really either when compared to friends in Minnesota or Canada but, certainly cold/snowy enough. A trip to the computer also serves as an excuse to get away from the football blaring from the TV in the front room. A sometimes fan, today isn’t the day. A pan of brownies is cooking in the oven to go along with the pork tenderloin, steamed broccoli and stuffing to be fixed later for dinner. It’s been a reading-by-the-fireplace and dog weekend … Teller got brushed/bathed/trimmed Saturday; Frankers and Dante were brushed out today in anticipation of a trip to the groomer sometime in the coming week. Hopefully when it’s warmer as I always feel bad when they have a spiffy new short ‘do and then the temps drop and the snow flies.

The time since my last posting has been hectic, to say the least. A major surgery the third week of November, trying to keep Teller mat free during my recovery with him having a major coat blow and then getting ready for Christmas was, ummm, interesting. Hubby informed me the surgery was karma for taking so many fosters in to get spayed … I say it was good karma for warding off some more-than-likely major problems in the future. The three weeks off work has been dubbed my “spaycation” … hmmph, some vacation!

For the second year in a row, one of our adoptive families (Judy and Magoo) made a Christmas donation to rescue. The only “condition” was that I write a letter to her great-granddaughter telling her what it meant to rescue and how it was used. The back story … Judy had inquired of her grandson what the baby could use for Christmas. He replied that the baby had more than she could possibly use and that if Great-Grandma wanted to do something, make a donation and then explain what that donation meant to the receiving organization. The letters would be kept and read to the child when she was of an age to understand giving and sharing. Kudos to these parents for instilling empathy and compassion early on in this child’s life … and thanks to Judy for including rescue in her holiday charity.

Best buds … Sammy & Budha

We also heard over the holidays that Bubba (n/k/a Max) was doing fine and that Sammy’s family (f/k/a Wrigley) added a new Tzu named Budha. Little red Tess in Golden continues to do well and pretty much rules the roost at that house.

Senghe … adopted in 2007 and n/k/a “Peanut” … continues to do well in his new home even with some major changes. Here’s what his Mom has to say …

I thought you’d like to see Peanut’s big transformation today! We had been growing him out and while he looked so adorable with his topknot (I took it out for the before photo for dramatic impression), it was obvious he is much happier with his close puppy cut. As evidence of that he has been a complete ball of happy energy ever since I picked him up from the groomer this afternoon. He even gets to wear his sweaters which he absolutely loves – weird, huh? He will follow you all over the place if you have one of his sweaters in your hand and will hound you (no pun intended) until you put it on him. He wasn’t able to wear them with his longer hair since they had a tendency to mat him up and he really hated the unmatting process!! He also wasn’t real fond of the topknot so that was a constant battle. Oh, well, now he will just look like a puppy all the time!

Senghe n/k/a Peanut

We got married this summer … Peanut absolutely loves his new dad and pretty much ignores me when Christopher is home Christopher has been awesome for him too – he is very structured and does not let that little darling get away with anything. Peanut is his first ever dog so I’m quite surprised at his ability to handle him – I’m sure you remember that Peanut is quite the strong willed little thing. I think Michelle would be shocked and amazed at the different little man Peanut is now. He has learned so many new commands of which the most amazing is wait. He will wait for quite a while even with a treat right in front of him on the floor and he waits for his dinner quietly until you tell him he can go eat. Another cute thing he has started doing all on his own is to put himself away. He is way too curious for his own good so he has to go into his kennel when we leave the house. We used to tell him “kennel” and he would go in and sit down. Now…all I have to do is grab my purse and he runs to his kennel. I think the treat he gets when the door closes has a lot to do with it! It is awful cute though – although sometimes I am just grabbing my purse to get something out of it and then you have to convince him you aren’t going anywhere.

Unfortunately, our little ones age right along with us and I got word that Oscar lost his battle with Cushings. He was such a nice foster with a sweet, sweet face! I know he is greatly missed by his family.

On the home front, Teller is being shown on a limited basis … and probably even more limited (read that “not”) until his side coat gets longer :::sigh:::. Dante sired a litter here in Colorado in August and his two daughters (BeBe and Lily) will hit the ring sometime this spring. Frankers is, well, Frankers and at 13.5-years old, he’s entitled to his off days. He’s still pretty spry, all things considered, and we’ve had really good results using Dog Gone Pain (DGP) as recommended by my vet. Definitely something to consider if you have older dogs with arthritis issues. And while we’re on the issue of older dogs, studies have shown that it is easier to prevent joint problems than fix them after they develop. For this reason, I start my dogs on glucosamine/chondroitin once they turn 7-years old. We’ve had really good luck with Glyco-Flex II, a half caplet every Mon-Wed-Fri. Don’t be put off by the price … a 90-caplet bottle will last you a year+ on a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule. And, yes, Frankers gets the Glyco-Flex as well as the DGP. He injured an SI joint several years ago chasing squirrels and this regimen keeps him both comfortable and mobile.

Wishing everyone the best of the coming year! May the snows fall lightly on your winter … and may you always find a heartbeat at your feet …

Our recent foster, Mia, went to her new home last weekend. And got a new name in the process … Abbey Roze. She’s already settled in like she’s lived there her whole life. I’m certain she’s enjoying the one-on-one attention with her new family. A very lucky dog, Abbey will get to go to work with her new mom (if it sounds like I’m jealous, I am!!!).

Mia/Abbey’s journey to rescue was a bit unusual. She was found wandering in Aurora, CO. The family who found her managed to locate her owners and she was returned with many comments on “what a nice dog and how well behaved.” Five days later, the original owners brought her back and asked the finding family if they’d like to keep her as the original family had little time for her. While with the new family, there was a change in circumstances with their daughter and grandson moving back home with their own pets. Simply put, it was too much for the family to absorb/manage and they contacted us.

Arrangements were made and Mia/Abbey was picked up by our foster family (Neil and John) and transported to Loveland to keep her from being placed with a puppy broker in a kennel facility. Big thanks going to Neil and John for making the trip when I couldn’t! That was September 11th … Colorado’s flood would start that evening with torrential downpours which stranded John and Neil in the Big Thompson Canyon. Talk about getting her in under the wire … or water as the case may be!

Mia/Abbey had an uneventful stay in rescue and a quick recovery from the spay. Well behaved, she got along with all the dogs in the house and perfected her house training and crate training while in foster care. Meet Abbey’s new family … congrats to Pat and James on the new addition to the household. We wish you “Lhasa” happy and healthy years together!

Mid October saw Teller and I at the American Lhasa Apso Club’s National Specialty in Sacramento, CA. A week of shows, activities, seminars, the annual Board Meeting and the annual General Meeting makes for a “working” vacation. While we didn’t get any points in the ring, our showmanship (and Teller’s behavior) improved each day … a “win” in and of itself. Some days/shows, it’s the little things that count the most.